Cougars fight act of attrition

August 24, 2006|TIM CREASON Tribune Correspondent

An unfortunate reality of high school athletics is that participation often dwindles as students grow older. In girls cross country, especially, it is not uncommon to see teams with 10 or 15 freshmen, but only two or three seniors. Those teams that can keep a good group of runners together over four years often reap great rewards when those runners reach their senior season. Witness New Prairie, where a solid group of upperclassmen has the Cougar girls primed for a winning campaign. "We've got a great group of seniors," says coach Thom Smith, who watched his crew win the junior-senior division at last Saturday's South Bend Stampede by 38 points. Brittaney Humphrey, Samantha Wieczorek, Laura Gamble, Lauren Arndt and Rachel Rehlander swept five of the top 11 spots. And Arndt is the only junior in the bunch. "They've been doing this so long, they don't need me anymore," quipped Smith. "Actually, it's a good feeling to know we can go someplace and I don't have to tell them where to be and when to go. They know what's expected." In all, New Prairie has 11 senior girls on its squad. "We think this will be a pretty good season," said Smith. Reassessing goals? LaPorte junior Mike Fout figured to be one of the top male runners in northern Indiana this fall, as long as he stays healthy. But the way this season has begun, you have to wonder if he has bigger plans than just being "one" of the best. At last Saturday's Viking Stampede in Dowagiac, Fout cruised up and down the muddy hills at Southwestern Michigan College to win his first race of the season, covering 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) in 15:45. In the process, he buried runnerup Bobby Moldovan of Fort Wayne Northrop by 23 seconds. Moldovan happens to be Indiana's defending state champion in the 3200-meter run in track. And at Tuesday's Jack Bransford Classic, with no competition in sight, Fout practically jogged a 15:50, winning by over a minute. Injuries robbed Fout of most of his sophomore year, one reason a lot of coaches and fans have been scratching their heads, trying to remember if they've seen this kid before. "I guess my times have been a little quick, but I had a good summer and I'm just running the way I feel," said Fout after the Bransford meet at Kesling Park. "I can't really say I'm surprised." The Slicer ace isn't making a big deal over his win last weekend. "Beating (Moldovan) was a good feeling, but I'm at a point where I'm not afraid to race anybody," he said. "There will be more races like that in the future. The harder the race, the more fun it is." Noteworthy Saturday's Penn Hokum-Karem at Elm Road School will feature two of the Tribune area's best boys in Fout and Elkhart Memorial's Jaurice Dye. On the girls side, defending state champ Alex Banfich of Culver Girls Academy is scheduled to be there. Not a bad field... That same morning, the annual NorthWood Invitational is on tap... Did anybody notice? St. Joseph's boys defeated No. 15-ranked Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger on a tie-breaker Saturday at the annual Bishop Luers Invitational. Brian Powers finished third to lead the Indians ... St. Joseph's also won the girls title, beating Marian by six points ... Marian's Mary Cate Quiett won the girls individual race, but Alison Sweeney was second to lift St. Joe.